Trade cards are usually
picture cards that were given free with, or inside, a product, with the
intention of both promoting the product and to be collected, and built into
sets. If the picture subject on the card was beautiful, or a popular
subject, then folks would keep such pretty cards, and build collections, or
use as décor, or for scrap books, and in doing so, would inadvertently be
promoting the product in which the company gave the card.

Cigarette cards are a similar idea but packed inside packets of
cigarettes. Originally, towards the end of the 19 th century, they were
first used as “stiffeners” for a fragile paper pack to hold the cigarettes,
but the opportunity was there for the company to advertise on the stiff
card, and that progressed to sets of cards for customers to collect. Most
of these cards were finished by the time of the second world war, and the
more modern types do not have the same beauty as their forerunners. For
those of you unfamiliar with cigarette cards, the average size for most
cards that were packed inside packets of 10 cigarettes is approximatelly
.... ....40 x 71 mm. and the large size, which were packed into packets of
20 cigarettes are usually 80 x 71 millimetres. Different companies
vary slightly in size but these are averages given. In the
following pages, you will find sets of cards from all types of companies,
carrying all aspects of themes and topics, to suit all types of collecting
interests, whether it be sport, or movies, or fauna, or whatever. The
variety is endless, and these small beautiful cards were often referred to
as the “poor man’s encyclopaedia”.
Browse and have fun, just e-mail if you have any queries.